The Heart of Tokyo
by Asher Elric
Summary: Yahiko is in love with Tsubame and tries to show her; meanwhile a group of thugs terrorize Tokyo and the Kenshin-gumi get involved. This is a re-write of Tokyo Samurai. It actually has plot and other pairings. K/K, S/M and the original Y/T.
1. Chapter 1

_**The Heart of Tokyo**_

_**Fandom – Rurouni Kenshin**_

_**Pairing – Yahiko/Tsubame, Kenshin/Kaoru, Sano/Megumi - but mostly friendship**_

_**Warnings – Violence and fighting**_

_**Disclaimer – The copywrite of this fic belongs to me, all characters – except those I make up – do not belong to me. **_

_**Summary – Yahiko is in love with Tsubame and tries to show her; meanwhile a group of thugs terrorize Tokyo and the Kenshin-gumi get involved. **_

_**A/N – This is a re-write of my fan fic "Tokyo Samurai" which will not be deleted from this account. I have decided to re-write it and this time I got Tsubame's name right. ;) This will be a longer version of that story and I'll try to keep to the original lighthearted essence of the story. I also know that the whole Enishi arch got Kaoru and Kenshin together officially, but I'm ignoring that. So au?**_

_**Japanese word list – **_

_**Mamono – Ghost, devil**_

_**0000**_

_**Chapter 1 – Match Maker, Match Maker**_

_**0000**_

Yahiko sighed as he threw the rag into the bucket of mucky, brown water. He'd finally finished cleaning the dojo and in an hour he would be expected at the Akabeko; Miss Tai and Tsubame frowned on him for being late. Which, thankfully, was not something he did often. He mostly didn't want to be late this afternoon either. He was bound and determined to ask Tsubame to the Cherry Blossom Festival that'd take place at the end of the week. Kaoru just wouldn't stop hinting at Kenshin about it. She went on and on about what Kimono she was going to wear and why couldn't Kenshin wear her father's festival clothing? And that lead to Kenshin making excuses and going off to do some laundry.

But, it got Yahiko thinking about his future. One day he'd be the Assistant Master of Kamiya Dojo and he'd have apprentices and a wife and children. He was a little young to think about that sort of thing now, beyond the jittering butterflies he always got in his stomach when Tsubame was around – but, he didn't want to always make excuses to Tsubame when she wanted him to do something. And the best thing was that she just asked him things straight out. Yahiko didn't know why older women though that hinting at men got them anywhere, it never did as far as Yahiko could tell. And Tsubame seemed to know this.

So, when she had a bucket that needed filled with water, she would ask him to do it and she'd make over how strong he was and she'd blush when she said something a little forward. He'd blush back but it was all right for her tell him the things she thought because otherwise Yahiko was sure he'd make a mistake. He sighed and stood; now with the dojo cleaned he could actually have a bit of fun before going to work. He took his bucket out to the garden and poured the nasty water into the plants.

Then he turned about to find Kenshin; it was laundry day. Kaoru's bright yellow Kimono was hung up to dry along with the obi and the under Kimono. Kenshin always took extra care when it came to that particular Kimono though he did confide in Yahiko that he liked the blue one with the sakura flowers as well. He was simply sweet on Kaoru and felt unworthy of her and that was why he never made a move towards her. Well, Yahiko decided it was about time to change that.

He went in search of Kenshin and found the man in the kitchen cleaning fish for dinner. Yahiko lent against the wall a bit behind the older man.

"You know," Yahiko started, "Kaoru isn't going to wait around for you forever. She might get tired and go for Sano if he ever showed more interest in her," Yahiko said casually. Kenshin froze. The knife was half way through a carp, the guts spilling out onto the cutting board.

He seemed to gather himself and continued gutting the fish; "why do you say that, Yahiko?" Kenshin asked.

"Oh, it was just something I over heard Ugly and Megumi talking about the other day," Yahiko was glad Kenshin's back was to him otherwise the game would be up because he could tell he had his mischievous look on his face. Kenshin hummed. Yahiko could tell that the older man was interested, too bad he was making this all up.

"Yeah, she said that she liked you most because you saved the dojo and all from that guy…but that Sano isn't too bad looking…" Yahiko sighed, "but, even if you weren't good looking she should probably snatch you up anyway, seeing as you make a good house wife," Yahiko giggled.

It was then that Kenshin turned to look at him; "are you sure she said that?"

Yahiko nodded and bit his bottom lip so as not to smirk; "yup!"

"This one thanks you the information, that I do," Kenshin said and then returned to pre-paring the fish. Yahiko skipped off. Now that he planted the seeds he'd sit back and see how this whole farce played out. It'd be fun to stir everyone up, besides; and he was bored.

_**0000**_

Saito growled; the report was of those street thugs that called themselves Mamono; they are a relatively new street gang, they started out with petty crimes like pick pocketing and illegal gambling. Now they had graduated to bigger crimes, just last week they had kidnapped the daughter of a local merchant and demanded a ransom. The Merchant had paid and had gotten his daughter back, in a pine box. They needed to die.

Aku, Zoku, Zan. The only philosophy he'd ever live his life by; it was too bad that in the Meiji era, as a Policeman sworn to protect, that he couldn't draw his sword and slaughter the whole group. No, they had to go through the courts. Hopefully, with enough evidence they'd be convicted. However, he needed to find said evidence and get one or two of the weaker members to turn against the group, that'd be the only way to achieve justice in the new era.

He threw the report down on his desk and pulled a new cigarette from the box he took from the desk drawer. He'd have to plan this out like the old days; back when the Shinsengumi were something to be feared and Ishin Shi Shi were always trying to keep up. Saito was convinced that if they hadn't had Battousai on their side that the Shogunate would have won that war.

_**0000**_

On the outskirts of Tokyo, where forest met city, there are several abandoned huts. And every once in a while, someone takes shelter in these structures. The Mamono Group ranges in the number of ten to fifteen give or take who was out working the streets. Kazuko enjoys her afternoon tea from a chipped tea cup that no one but her can touch. She wears a short Kimono of bright green with an obi of dark blue she'd stolen from some wash line or another. She had tied it in a simple bow, it was so long that the ends dragged on the ground but she didn't care, she liked the look. Her sword was at her side and her long black hair was in a bun on top of her head.

She is the leader of the Mamono and no one questioned her authority. Her men had their reasons of loyalty to her and she didn't ask them what they were. But they did everything she asked and that was all she wanted from them. Slowly, but surely, they were becoming known in the dark underworld of crime and no one wanted to go against them. She planned to be somewhere better at the end of five months. A nice mansion where she wore silk and had maidservants; she licked her lips. The tea was bitter from being steeped for too long; Akira made for a good slave; it was too bad she had to kill him. She looked over at the dead body. Blood crept along the floor and she sighed. His blue eyes were now devoid of life and the look of fear was still on his face even in death. She smiled at him because she had put it there.

"I guess there won't be a next time for you Akira, it's too bad you made rotten tea," she sniffed. And now she'd have to find a new slave to carry out her orders.

_**0000**_

The Akabeko was very busy with patrons that night; even Sano, Megumi, Kenshin and Kaoru had shown up for dinner while Yahiko was working. He adamantly refused to serve their table and instead pushed Tai on them. Not that she minded, they could gossip for a few seconds at a time before she was called away to serve another table.

They ordered beef pot because together that was all the pocket money they had. Even Sano was able to contribute some coins to buy the food. Megumi had the fair share because her practice with Dr. Gensi was going well. Kaoru a little less because work for her had been so slow lately and Kenshin only a couple from a previous job he held for just over a week doing some road construction on the outskirts of Kyoto a month or so ago. That money had gone fast and Kenshin knew he had to find something else. It was all find and good to simply clean and cook for miss Kaoru but he felt badly about not being more of a man and contributing like a man should. Sano obviously never felt that way; but Kenshin grew up in a rather traditional household.

"So, did you hear about the Mamono?" Megumi started, "It seems that the police are finally starting to take them seriously,"

"Aren't they the gang that killed that woman last week?" Kaoru asked.

"They did more than that," Sano frowned as he chewed the end of the toothpick, "they chopped her up before sending her back home,"

"That's just disgraceful," Kaoru hummed.

"This one is disturbed that none of us are disturbed by that news," Kenshin muttered. He sipped his tea, their food hadn't arrived yet, but the tea was always a good way to start a meal.

They all looked from one to another, out of the four of them Kaoru was the only one who hadn't really experienced death first hand. The others, however, had a hand in it at one point in time or another.

"You're right, Kenshin," Sano agreed.

"Let's talk about something else," Megumi said, even though she had started the previous conversation; "Guess who finally asked me to the Cherry Blossom festival?" she smirked and Sano blushed.

"Hmmm…" Kenshin played along, "I didn't know you went for tall, strong and oxy,"

Megumi giggled.

"Yeah that's right I asked her…." He sounded pleased before he realized what Kenshin had said, "I am not an OX!" he raged but the other just laughed at the joke.

"Well, Megumi, I didn't know you liked Sano in that way," Kaoru wiggled her eyebrows. It was funny how women could talk about their sexual interests in public and it was always with euphuisms that made Kenshin rather wish he wasn't around for girl talk. Sano didn't seem to care, it was him they were talking about.

"Oh well, he may be dumb some times but sweet, I don't know. I guess it's a nice change," Megumi replied.

"A nice change? As opposed to what, Megumi?" Sano demanded, slightly wanting an answer and at the same time not.

"Ohhohohohoho!" Megumi laughed, Sano could practically see the fox ears pop out of her head as if by magic; "usually I go for strong men like Ken-san! He's so adorable when he fumbles about but he knows exactly what he's doing. Sadly he doesn't seem to want me at all and then you just came around out of no where and showed some interest and so I decided to give it a try!"

Sano looked nonplussed; "give it a try?" he asked.

"Well, I'd have to see how well you did in bed before I make any final decisions….ohohohoho!" Megumi was very pleased with herself for making Sano blush in public.

"Miss Megumi, that's not proper talk, no that it's not!" Kenshin protested as quietly as he could. He hoped no one was listening in on the conversation. That'd be horrible for Megumi's reputation. Sano was trying to splutter something about being a god in bed, but Megumi, being older and wiser in all things (and apparently this included sex) kept saying such cleverly hidden innuendoes that Kenshin wasn't exactly sure if Sano could keep a lid on his imagination.

Kaoru, on the other hand was covering her eyes with one hand and had her head bowed. She was either too pleased by the conversation and didn't want to show it, or not pleased at all. Her reputation, Kenshin suddenly thought, was probably very well tarnished. She did have at least two men in her house at all times who weren't blood related. Even if Yahiko was a kid still he could be over looked, But Sano sometimes stayed over and Kenshin was at the dojo all the time.

People probably thought they were having relations, and maybe that was hurting her school. What if that was why she didn't have friends in the neighborhood. It didn't show but sometimes when they went to the market Kaoru would see someone she knew, and she'd try to talk to them but they'd always run away with excuses. They never stopped by for tea, and they always glared at her when she wasn't looking.

He ruined her. Kenshin suddenly realized.

Sano snapped his fingers in front of Kenshin's face. He blinked; "oro?"

"Are you all right?" Sano asked.

"I'm fine," Kenshin replied, well, he thought as he poured Kaoru more tea, there was nothing for it. She was ruined forever and they hadn't even shared a room, much less intimate relations.

Well, Kenshin sighed, he'd have to give more thought about courting her. He decided that it wasn't that he didn't desire Kaoru; he did from the moment she let him stay at the dojo. It's just, Tomoe is still such a big memory for him, a guilty memory that he had never entertained – until this moment – actually getting on in life and being happy with another woman. The guilt he felt over her death wasn't any less now than when he held her in his arms and she bled all over freshly fallen snow. But, maybe, she wouldn't mind if he did move on. He'd always have a place in his heart for her, and it'd be the same for Kaoru.

Their food finally came and Kenshin tried to be normal, to laugh with the others and not make them worry. Thought of Tomoe always made him a little depressed.

_**TBC**_


	2. Chapter 2

_**The Heart of Tokyo**_

_**Fandom – Rurouni Kenshin**_

_**Pairing – Yahiko/Tsubame, Kenshin/Kaoru, Sano/Megumi - but mostly friendship**_

_**Warnings – Violence and fighting**_

_**Disclaimer – The copywrite of this fic belongs to me, all characters – except those I make up – do not belong to me. **_

_**Summary – Yahiko is in love with Tsubame and tries to show her; meanwhile a group of thugs terrorize Tokyo and the Kenshin-gumi get involved. **_

_**A/N – This is a re-write of my fan fic "Tokyo Samurai" which will not be deleted from this account. I have decided to re-write it and this time I got Tsubame's name right. ;) This will be a longer version of that story and I'll try to keep to the original lighthearted essence of the story. I also know that the whole Enishi arch got Kaoru and Kenshin together officially, but I'm ignoring that. So au?**_

_**A/N1 –So in one of the episodes in the Kyoto arch, Saito, Kenshin and Misao come across this boy who's an orphan that Saito sends to his wife. I've decided that kid had family somewhere and got sent to them later on – and since then Tokio has been trying to have children but she's barren…hence…spoilers for this chapter. ;) Also, I am making Tokio a Shinsengumi Captain as well. I think that's the most original job she's ever had, but then again I don't actually read fic about her. **_

_**Japanese word list – **_

_**Mamono – Ghost, devil**_

_**0000**_

_**Chapter 2 – Shadows from the Night**_

_**0000**_

The moon is full that night and overlooks the Kenshin-gumi as they slowly walk home. The streets are quiet and besides the sound of a baying hound or raucous noise from a gambling den they pass, only the cicadas note their passing. Yahiko yawns and lags a little behind the group. He's had a long day, what first with practice and then cleaning the dojo before going to work. He's got a little yen in his pocket though, and that means he can buy something for Tsubame. The question was, what would she like? If she were like most girls she'd probably like some sweets or jewelry. Not that he could afford anything expensive. He might even have to whittle something to service for the Cherry Blossom Festival.

Which brought him back to his match making plans between Kaoru and Kenshin; honestly, Sano and Megumi moved far faster than those two – and that was after they got over their initial crushes on Kaoru and Kenshin. Though, for an instant he did wonder what it'd be like if Kenshin had moved to the clinic and Sano into the Dojo…

He shook his head…nope. The universe was right as it was at this very moment.

"Hey! Kaoru, do you have someone to take you to the Festival?" he asked as innocently as he could but by the way all the adults froze all movement, and looked at him, he knew he hadn't entirely succeeded in his mission. He tried so hard not to smirk.

Kaoru glared, at Kenshin, as she forced a smile and said; "why no, how come you ask?"

"Because some guy has been around lately!" Yahiko skipped ahead a bit, "he's been asking after The Rose of Kendo!" he snorted, "I asked him if he was serious."

"Errr…I didn't know anyone had come to the Dojo," Kenshin sounded very put out. Yahiko sighed, Kenshin of all people should know he was lying through his rotten teeth. Honestly, the things he did for these people.

"You were busy, anyway, I sent him away!" Yahiko boasted.

"I don't believe you!" Kaoru declared, "and besides, Kenshin and I have all ready talked about it, he's going with me!" though she still frowned as Kenshin oro'ed beside her and silently wondered when he'd agreed to that or even when had they talked about it.

Yahiko laughed; "yeah right, ugly!"

Kaoru pushed up the sleeve of her Kimono and with out warning gave chase to beat her wayward student into the ground. Kenshin just watched because he knew if he got involved that Kaoru would rope him into being her official date for the festival. Sure, they were close in a romantic sense, but he wasn't sure if this was a childish crush on Kaoru's part and if she'd want a very serious relationship with him. Though, come to think about it. Tomoe probably wasn't anything to go by, even if she did change in the end, she did die and her goal was for him to die for killing her fiancé. Kenshin bit the inside of his cheek for even thinking evil thoughts about her.

"We'd best be getting home," he said and pulled Kaoru off Yahiko who'd have a few bruises to show for his mischievousness in the morning. Kaoru huffed and stalked off without another word, well, at least she was made enough at Yahiko not to bother him about the festival. Yet.

Sano and Megumi parted ways with the group when they got to Dojo. The clinic wasn't too far away but still Sano wasn't about to let Megumi walk there by herself. And Ruffian's Row wasn't too far after that stop and by then it'd be midnight, but he didn't care. Walking under a full moon was a nice way to spend an evening with a beautiful woman.

After wishing Kenshin, Kaoru and Yahiko a good night they continued on their way, laughing about Yahiko's little stunt on the way back to the Dojo; "If I didn't know any better," Sano laughed, "I'd say the little punk was trying to make Kenshin jealous so he'd make a move on the little missy all ready."

Megumi took that more seriously than Sano thought she would; "You know what, he probably was."

"How do you mean?"

"Don't be foolish," Megumi rolled her eyes but her tone held a hint of tease to it, "Yahiko knows that Kaoru won't wait around for Kenshin forever, one day he'll have to decide if he wants Kaoru or not and if he decides not he'll leave," she shrugged.

"I'd have to beat him up if he did that," Sano groused, his good mood almost evaporating.

"Well, it hasn't happened yet so don't be too mad at him. I doubt Ken-san even knows what Yahiko is trying to do," Megumi sighed.

"So, should I talk to him about it?" Sano asked.

"Kenshin is at least a good five years older than you Sano, what advice could you possibly have for an old man?" Megumi asked.

"I don't know, fox lady, but you seem to think I'm okay in bed," Sano frowned.

"Well, pleasure is different than…marriage," she smirked.

Sano paled at the mere mention of the M-word.

"You don't think…?"

"I do think it, Kaoru is intent on marrying Ken-san, and can't you tell? She was wearing her purple Kimono, it's the one Kenshin like's on her best even if he won't admit it," Megumi took Sano's hand, "and she did her hair up, in a bun even, and she wore combs and wore a bit of make up. All demure too. She was trying to catch his attention," she laughed.

"Good grief, and I missed it," Sano groused.

"Well, I don't need a nice Kimono to catch your eye," Megumi winked at him. Sano had to agree with that, but Kaoru had a beauty of her own that Kenshin was totally in love with.

"So, are we going to help Yahiko in this mission of his?" Sano asked.

"Hmmmm…well, it has been a bit boring around here…" Megumi nodded, "of course, we'll help," she smiled up at the moon.

_**0000**_

There was never a good time to arrive at the Police Station; yet, Tokio strolled through as if she owned the place. It wasn't hard to find her husband amongst all the chaos of people talking and police men dragging in people they'd arrested on the streets, and the reason that Saito wasn't hard to find was all the men gathered around his desk trying to get a bit of his time. It was a mad house today, and it was only Monday; the rest of the week may be stressful for them, however, they'd gotten through a War together – Tokio is sure that nothing will separate them now.

She waded her way through the sea of men around her husbands desk, they all cleared off rather neatly as she set her husbands dinner on the desk before the piles of papers. He grunted and looked up, and then smiled up at her.

"Darling, you didn't need to come all the way down here just for me," he took her hand and kissed her knuckles lightly. Tokio laughed lightly and smirked down at her husband who still sat behind the desk.

"I hoped you'd be able to join me," she said; Saito didn't have to have it spelled out to him. He grabbed his police jacket and shrugged it on. He told his Sergeant to take care of things for a couple of hours and then he and Tokio made their way through the mess and into the streets where it was, surprisingly, less chaotic.

Saito held out his elbow to his wife who gently grabbed hold so as not to loose each other as they made their way through the late evening market crowd and to the park a couple of blocks away from the fourth Tokyo Police Station. The Cherry Blossom's wouldn't be in full bloom until the end of the week, and yet their scent filled the air and it was a very nice place to take a evening walk and have a quiet dinner. They found a rather isolated part of the park with a bench that was sheltered by one huge Cherry Tree where Tokio unpacked their supper. She served her husband first and then herself.

"I take it you'll be busy the rest of the week," she said as they settled down to eat.

"Yes," Saito replied. "The Mamono are still at large and the family has been hounding me about it. What they don't understand is that all we have to go on is the word of thief trying to get out of opium peddling charges," Saito explained.

Tokio had nothing to say to that; this wasn't the war and her husbands job took a lot of his time. Well, the war had taken up both of their times and now she was struggling to fill her day with something that fulfilled her like police work fulfilled her husband. Maybe if she were able to have children…but…she sighed.

"What's wrong?" Saito asked. Tokio shook her head.

"We'll have children one day," Saito told her, "I know we can't conceive but I don't see why we can't adopt," and these were the words she'd been waiting to hear. Tokio looked up at him, confused but her dark grey eyes were filled with joy at the news.

"What changed your mind?" Tokio asked.

"The sadness in your heart,"

Tokio burst out in tears, the first he'd ever seen her shed. It was an amazing sight that his change of mind about them adopting children had brought her such warmth and joy. Maybe, he thought, he should have done that sooner.

_**0000**_

Kenshin is a light sleeper or he didn't sleep at all; and he wasn't feeling like sleeping at all after everything that'd happened that evening with Kaoru and Yahiko. Yahiko was trying to do something between him and Kaoru, Kenshin was sure of that much. Thankfully he'd fibbed about the man who'd come to ask after Kaoru and he played along because it was easier than embarrassing the poor boy. He wished Yahiko wouldn't quit putting idea's into Kaoru's head though, and then he wished he'd get over Tomoe and just go after Kaoru. He deserved to be happy just as much as the next person, really, if he was honest with himself. War was war and it was acceptable that people died, hopefully on the battlefield. But that idea had always been hard for him to stomach. It meant that he didn't have a choice in his decisions; it meant that he didn't have to take responsibility for killing all the lives he took.

In retrospect he should have listened to Hiko instead of going off and fighting a war he'd no business being part of. Hiko had been able to avoid it pretty well, and so Kenshin figured that if he'd just stayed with Hiko he'd have been a better man. Still, at the same time he'd be a different man. He wouldn't have the life experiences that actually made him Kenshin. And Kaoru seemed to like this Kenshin.

And sometimes, there just things people had to live with, and his sins would never leave him. Tiredly he trailed a finger along the ridges of the cross-shaped scar on his left cheek. It had never healed right, it'd gotten infected and he'd been so depressed after Tomoe's death that he just didn't care. But, her slash had stopped the constant bleeding of her dead fiancé's scar, so that was something. It was like she canceled out the other's curse. She was still shielding him. Maybe, in the end, she had loved him. Maybe.

The gate suddenly banging on its hinges had him across the room with his Sakabatou in hand before he'd even thought about it. He pushed all thoughts and regrets of Tomoe to the edges of his mind as he closed his eyes and felt for battle ki. There was a waft of something…that he couldn't quite place…

….It could just be a strong gust of wind that'd knocked the latch on the gate loose, or someone was trying to sneak in and was doing a bad job of it….or he could just be deluding himself. He opened his eyes, he'd have to go and investigate Justin case.

As softly as he could he opened the shoji between his room and the porch. The dojo was right across the courtyard, the moon is full and Kenshin estimated the time to be around two in the morning. The cicadas chirped and the scent of cherry blossom was on the breeze…along with shadows…

Shadows of people with weapons…

Kenshin gave a yell; "Kaoru-Dono, Yahiko, wake up!" and then he was out of the room and his sword was drawn. There were five shadows, at the moment, and as soon as he'd vacated the room they knew the ruse was up and attacked. Kenshin dodged knives and a sword in order to knock two of the intruders out cold. The other three ignored their fallen comrades and continued to fight.

Kaoru and Yahiko had run from their rooms to see why Kenshin had yelled for them. Kaoru gasped and Yahiko yelled encouragement as Kenshin sped his way around attacks and continued to beat up the three using simple Batto-jutsu techniques. Yahiko was sure those were beginner level because Hiko had taught him a bit when they had met him on his mountain while in Kyoto.

Kenshin came to a stop; the bodies of the people who'd tried to attack the dojo fallen all around them. "I'll go get a cop!" Yahiko said, still in his sleeping yukata, "these people should know better than to attack the Kamiya Dojo!" and with that he went running off. Kenshin sheathed his sword and he and Kaoru went about searching their "guest" for other, hidden, weapons.

"Do you know why they decided to attack us?" Kaoru asked, she was piling the weapons she found on the porch, well always from the strange intruders.

"No, I do not," Kenshin shook his head and added his pile to hers. "But, this one does wonder why they have so many knives!"

Kaoru giggled. Kenshin was so dense some times.

A few minutes later Yahiko actually came back with Saito and a whole police squad. "ID them as fast as you can," Saito told the men who obediently went about arresting the people on the ground.

"Saito-san," Kenshin stepped forward, slightly confused, "it's good to see you again."

"It should be," Saito snorted, "these people may be part of the Mamono gang."

"You don't mean," Yahiko interjected, "those people who murdered that girl and then sent her home in a pine box?"

"So you do know about them," Saito gave each of the three a long glance.

"Only what the news papers have reported," Kenshin corrected.

A cart entered through Kaoru's gate then and the policemen began to pile the restrained captives into it.

"Not all details have been released to the press, they have a bad habit of reporting things that let our enemies know what we're going to do," Saito struck a match to light a cigarette, "and I'd rather keep this under wraps for now, so if anyone comes asking strange questions, you just tell them that these people were from the Bakumatsu looking to settle the score with Battousai,"

"Why should we do that?" Kaoru demanded, angrily, but Kenshin held out an arm. "Kenshin?" she asked.

"We will do that," Kenshin was serious now, "if it will help your investigation,"

"It will, the gang doesn't want to be in the mind of the public, they can't do their jobs that way, but if they think we have mistaken this group to be lousy fighters, they won't take steps to be more careful," Saito puffed on his cigarette and blew the smoke into Kenshin's face. Kenshin gave a few short, small coughs (mostly in annoyance) and waved his hand through the thick cloud of second hand smoke.

"Well, it looks like we're all done here," Saito said as the wagon began to pull out and away. He tipped his police hat at them before turning away. It was then, as Saito went back to the gate, they saw a woman. She wore a dark green kimono that looked almost midnight black in the moon light, her dark hair was pulled into a bun and she smiled at Saito.

"Who's that?" Kaoru asked but didn't think she aught to call out to the woman.

"That must be Tokio-dono, Saito-san's wife," Kenshin replied.

Kaoru keeled over in shock; "wife!?"

"Funny, that was almost my exact reaction when I found out too, that it was," Kenshin mused as he walked off to re-lock the gate. He might have to find a better lock; and then he wondered why the gate had been un-locked in the first place if the men who'd attacked the Dojo had come over the wall.

TBC


End file.
